Coaching Style Meeting. Secrets Of Effective Business Communication

2024 Author: Harry Day | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 15:43

Once, as a novice head of the personnel department in production, I was waiting with enthusiasm for the first meeting of the plant management. I imagined how productive the management team would work for the good of the team.

My subordinate, an inspector of the personnel department, who worked here for almost 50 years, did not share my bright expectations. “Do not be surprised that the personnel department will be blamed for all the problems of the plant. Do not be upset by this state of affairs, the leaders need to let off steam and find the guilty ones. And the format of the meeting will be more like a bazaar than an organized meeting of colleagues who need to come to a common decision."

Indeed, the meeting struck me with a lack of constructiveness. They all spoke practically at the same time, without hearing each other and not remembering the agenda. As a result, “burning” issues remained unresolved, and all the time was spent on discussing insignificant details. 10 years have passed since then, but, according to managers from various companies, similar meetings are still being held.

What can I recommend as a coach to keep meetings constructive and effective? Consider the request and look for best practices to implement it. First, analyze if you really need to hold a meeting or can you get by with another format of internal communications?

When to hold the meeting?

1. There is a need for a team discussion of a problem or task

2. It is necessary to share important information with the team and hear the opinions of its members on this matter.

3. Want to collect the maximum number of ideas and points of view on an important issue

4. There is a problem that affects the goals of most of your subordinates.

5. Do you know that the team would like to get together and jointly solve some problem, while at the same time distributing responsibility for its implementation

When should you not hold a meeting?

1. It makes sense to use other communication tools without reducing performance

2. The task is urgent / important, and the delay in solving it can be too expensive

3. The question is too personal to bring it up for public discussion

4. Not enough time to prepare and conduct the meeting

5. Want to use the meeting as a tool to punish someone from subordinates

All ten points can be summed up in one sentence. Conduct a meeting when there is a need for teamwork and do not hold a meeting if there is no such need.

10 tips for effective meetings

Target. Determine for yourself for what purpose you need to organize a meeting? What results and in what form do you want to get at the end of the meeting? Are there decisions to be made? What difficulties may arise and how to neutralize them? To what extent are the goals of the meeting participants the same / different? Are goal conflicts possible? The more carefully the first stage is worked out, the less resistance will arise during the meeting

Participants. The composition of the meeting participants is formed depending on its goals. Invite those people who can make a really important contribution to the discussion of the meeting issues. Test your motivations for recruiting a workgroup, are you turning meetings into a theater of one actor (yourself)? Is it really this lineup that will be productive? It is worth constantly changing the composition of the participants, forming it individually for each meeting. This will help the manager avoid routine and positively impact group dynamics

Format. Choose the best meeting format depending on your tasks. If you need, for example

1) inform the team about the innovations

Conduct a “meeting - informational message”. The task of such a meeting is to inform the participants as much as possible about the upcoming changes, the goal is to reduce resistance. A good tool to help a leader would be a SWOT analysis.

2) set tasks and assign responsibilities

"Meeting-order". A very structured and clear format, control of the situation, the goal is to distribute responsibility by the participants independently. This will reduce the level of directiveness that can interfere with the quality performance of tasks.

3) come to a common decision

Organize a "meeting-negotiation" during which you listen to the views of all participants. Win-win meeting strategy, the role of the leader is the moderator. The tools of this format are brainstorming, multi-position survey, survey with cards, problem analysis scheme, etc.

Problem Analysis Scheme, T. Edmüller

4) combine to solve the problem

Mediation meeting is the optimal format for such a meeting. It is very important to find a moderator who enjoys the authority of the team. A leader may not always be the best choice. It is much more effective to invite an external specialist (mediator, coach, consultant)

5) collect ideas

“Meeting - Brainstorming” will be 100% the best solution in this case. The main thing in this format is to follow the rules and the brainstorming algorithm. And also, maintain an atmosphere of openness and ease, remembering that criticism kills the effectiveness of such meetings

6) improve competence

"Meeting-learning". This format allows the leader to act as a trainer or coach. Share useful information with subordinates, discuss it and plan how you will implement it into daily functionality. A good find for managers will be 30-minute meetings several times a week / month, organized by them specifically for the development of subordinates. One competence - one development technique - an action plan is a rough algorithm for such meetings

A place. Where you will meet with your team is determined by the purpose and format of the meeting. The training format and “mediation meetings” may require rooms of different sizes and equipment. Think about this in advance. It is also necessary that the attendees can see each other and be able to make eye contact with the leader of the meeting

Plan. Your meeting plan should be in writing. In fact, this is an agenda that includes the following items

- date, time, location

- the purpose of the meeting

- issues to be discussed

- the desired outcome of the meeting and its form

- format

- the initiator and who is holding the meeting

- a list of participants, including those invited from the outside

Send the meeting plan to the meeting participants, they may want to add their questions. In order to save time, you can solve several issues in one meeting

Rules. The basic rules for conducting meetings are set by the team and may differ from meeting to meeting. But there are permanent rules, such as adherence to timelines, agreements on decision makers, restrictions imposed by company policy, agreements on conflict management, etc

Protocol. This is a kind of summary of the meeting, which describes all its main points. It is prepared by the secretary of the meeting, based on the notes made during the meeting. The minutes are signed by the leader, the secretary of the meeting, as well as by the key participants (those indicated in the action plan). A copy of the minutes is sent to all participants of the meetin

Time. Time management is one of the key aspects of meeting efficiency. Always start the meeting at the appointed time, because later you will not be able to achieve punctuality. Set time frames for all points in the plan and monitor their implementation. Follow the 60x20x20 rule:

Spend 60% of your time on urgent / important issues.

Leave 20% of the time on unforeseen topics and suddenly emerging urgent questions

Allocate 20% of the time to the so-called. social needs - breaks, lunch, talking, etc.

The ending. To end the meeting well, take stock of the teamwork. Note what the team has achieved, go through the points of the developed plan, make sure that everyone present understands and supports what was planned. At the end of the meeting, generate a summary notification that will be sent to all meeting participants, including those who are absent. Record in it a list of participants, the main discussion questions, decisions made, an action plan and those responsible for each of its points, deadlines, control points, the date of the next meetin

The control. Situations when everything ends with a meeting are not uncommon. In order to take action, you need desire and motivation, as well as control over the implementation of decisions. Define control points and who are responsible for it directly in the meetin

Difficulty holding meetings

1. Conflict

During meetings, conflict situations often arise. Sometimes they flare up so much that the meeting turns into a stream of mutual accusations and personal attacks. What should the manager do in this case?

- Postpone the discussion of the controversial issue and resolve it later, within the framework of this meeting. By that time, the passions will subside and the participants will be able to express themselves constructively.

- Translate the solution to the problem in an individual format and meet with conflicting parties outside of the general meeting

- Fix the question and invite to consider it at the next meeting

- Offer a compromise

2. Communication barrier

Advice, threats, criticism, reproaches, "diagnoses" and labeling, recommendations, orders, clichés and commonplace wording can all serve as obstacles to a meeting. Communication barriers cause resistance and antipathy. It is important for the leader to notice such things and draw the attention of the members of the working group to them. To remove barriers to communication, create an additional work rule in this regard. And also systematically improve the communication competence of the team

3. Error

Disadvantages and mistakes in conducting meetings can be noticed in any company. The most typical are:

- non-compliance with the set goals

- non-compliance with the regulations

- lack of information for meeting participants

- holding employees in the most productive time

- pressure from the head or vice versa, passivity and connivance

- inaction following the meeting

Your meetings can become a valuable management resource or a black hole in which time dissolves without a trace. The choice is yours.